Are Ball Shaped Wheels Practical?

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A few years ago, Goodyear produced a concept for a tyre, which was a ball. But are ball shaped wheels practical, and can we make a vehicle or robot with ball shapes omni-wheels? I found a video about research carried out at Osaka University, where an omni-ball wheel is made in two halves and seems to work well. But is there more to it?

I made my own prototype with 3D printing, in both rigid PLA and TPU. Each hemisphere rotates around a smaller wheel which is oriented with the main drive axle.

Part 2:    • Testing Ball-Shaped Wheels on an Omni...  
Osaka Uni video:    • Omni-Crawler Drives In All Directions...  

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HARDWARE/SOFTWARE

Below you can also find a lot of the typical tools, equipment and supplies used in my projects:

Filament from: https://www.3dfuel.com/
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Lincoln Electric Welder: https://bit.ly/2Rqhqos
CNC Router: https://bit.ly/2QdsNjt
Ryobi Tools: http://bit.ly/2RhArcD
Axminster Micro Lathe: http://bit.ly/2Sj6eeN
3D Printer Filament: http://bit.ly/2PdcdUu
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Vectric CNC Software: http://bit.ly/2zxpZqv

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XROBOTS

Former toy designer, current YouTube maker and general robotics, electrical and mechanical engineer, I’m a fan of doing it yourself and innovation by trial and error. My channel is where I share some of my useful and not-so-useful inventions, designs and maker advice. Iron Man is my go-to cosplay, and 3D printing can solve most issues - broken bolts, missing parts, world hunger, you name it.

XRobots is the community around my content where you can get in touch, share tips and advice, and more build FAQs, schematics and designs are also available.